Others to Italy’s invasion and defeat of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935, Adolf Hitler’s re-militarization of Germany’s Rhineland in 1936, the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), and Germany’s occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 are sometimes cited. Others point to 1931, when Japan seized Manchuria from China. Some say it was simply a continuation of the First World War that had theoretically ended in 1918. Nations suffering the highest losses, military and civilian, in descending order, are: The most destructive war in all of history, its exact cost in human lives is unknown, but casualties in World War II may have totaled over 60 million service personnel and civilians killed. The fundamentally disparate, one-time allies became engaged in what was to be called the Cold War, which dominated world politics for the latter half of the 20th century. The USA and USSR emerged from World War II as global superpowers. economy, and by the war’s end, the nation would have a gross national product that was nearly greater than all the Allied and Axis powers combined.

The war precipitated the revival of the U.S. Despite winning the war, Britain largely lost much of its empire, which was outlined in the basis of the Atlantic Charter. dropping atomic bombs on the Japanese towns of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The Japanese would go on to fight for nearly four more months until their surrender on September 2, which was brought on by the U.S. Seven days after the suicide of Adolf Hitler, Germany unconditionally surrendered on May 7, 1945.

The primary combatants were the Axis nations of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan, and the Allied nations, Great Britain (and its Commonwealth nations), the Soviet Union, and the United States. Western technological advances had turned upon itself, bringing about the most destructive war in human history. World War II summary: The carnage of World War II was unprecedented and brought the world closest to the term “total warfare.” On average 27,000 people were killed each day between September 1, 1939, until the formal surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945.

Europe, Pacific, Atlantic, South-East Asia, China, Middle East, Mediterranean, and Northern AfricaĮxplore articles from the HistoryNet archives about World War II

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